Public-Private-NGO Conservation Alliance Invests $100 Million in Mexico

QUINTANA ROO, Mexico, June 4, 2009, Environment News Service – To establish Mexico as a global model for conservation, a new alliance today announced an initial investment of US$100 million for the promotion of sustainable development and protection of biodiversity in six priority regions.

The global conservation group WWF, along with the foundation established by telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim, and the Mexican federal government, launched the initiative to support conservation in areas of exceptional natural richness.

"Mexico is home to 10 percent of the Earth's species and this wealth of diversity is important not only for Mexico's ecosystems, but for the people here who depend on these resources for their social, economic and physical well-being," said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts.

"This is the largest private financial commitment from an individual ever made in support of conservation and sustainable development in Mexico," said Omar Vidal, director of WWF-Mexico.

"This alliance between the private sector, NGOs and government is exactly the kind of partnership that WWF sees as the model for transforming the way we conserve our special places and balance the needs of people and nature around the world," Vidal said.

The work of the alliance will include efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, develop comprehensive water management policies, strengthen civil society, develop innovative financial mechanisms, and invest in local sustainable economies.

"This alliance also underscores Mexico's rising leadership in global negotiations on the design of new financial mechanisms to help developing nations confront and adapt to climate change," Roberts said.

An assessment of the major issues and recommended actions was developed based on consultation with more than 100 government and civil society experts across the selected regions.

The six regions - the Gulf of California, Chihuahuan Desert, Mesoamerican Reef of Mexico, the Monarch Butterfly Region, and the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca - collectively represent 30 percent of the country.